La Center found out why Cascade Christian allowed no more than 35 points to any team in their past four playoff games.
The Wildcats found the scoring opportunities against Cascade Christian difficult to come by and the result was a 43-37 loss Saturday at Rogers High School in Puyallup in the regional round of the Class 1A girls state basketball tournament.
“We got hot a little bit in the third quarter but just couldn’t finish it,’’ said La Center coach Herm VanWeerdhuizen, whose team scored just five points in the final quarter. “They spread their zone out wide and we didn’t have a lot of time to get our shots off.’’
La Center fell behind by 10 points in the first half but closed the deficit to one point at 33-32 heading into the final quarter, thanks in large part of three 3-pointers by Andrea Griffee, who finished with a team-high 11 points.
Despite their difficulties at the offensive end in the final eight minutes, La Center still trailed by just one points at 38-37 with less than a minute to play but Cascade Christian made some key free throws down the stretch to secure the win.
Freshman Bethany Whitten finished with nine points for La Center, which ended its season with a 19-5 overall record. Fellow freshman Taylor Mills added seven points for the Wildcats before fouling out with just under seven minutes to play in the game.
Cascade Christian’s Tristen Coltrom had 23 of her team’s 43 points.
“They had the one shooting guard (Coltrom) that hurt us but when you hold a team to 43 points you should be able to compete,’’ VanWeerdhuizen said.
VanWeerdhuizen had plenty of praise for his team for what it accomplished this season. The Wildcats had just three seniors and had five freshmen on this year’s team.
“I’m proud of the kids; everybody played hard and gave all they had,’’ VanWeerdhuizen said. “I’ve got no complaints. You never want to finish with a loss but someone had to lose. We had a lot of young kid get some good experience.’’
VanWeerdhuizen also offered a tip of the cap to senior Katie Whitten, who capped her La Center career with a Trico League Co-Most Valuable Player award.
“She’s probably one of the top five players I’ve had a chance to coach in girls basketball at La Center,’’ VanWeerdhuizen said.
